The sunny skies we have seen throughout the region inspired me to try a range of different fishing opportunities. I did some ice fishing one day last week, and even did some casting with a fly rod later on. They way things are going we will be enjoying spring like weather and a chance to try some of our favorite early-season fisheries soon.

When I was at Rocky Ford Creek last week, it struck me that spring is coming our way. There was very little snow left on the ground here and daytime temperatures are climbing throughout the region. If you want to hit some of the ice fishing lakes, better make plans to do it soon. Nighttime temperatures are still just below freezing, and the ice will be getting thinner. You can expect to be walking through puddles of water when leaving the ice as the sun melts the top surface during the day. I checked on the lake level for Lake Roosevelt and there is good news for fans of fishing for big kokanee and rainbow trout on the big reservoir. The lake level is dropping much faster than it did last year. This will really improve the opportunities for anglers to find the big kokanee further down the reservoir now. The launches at Keller and Spring Canyon will get busy now. Only the real die hard anglers have been out in the very chilly weather we’ve had this winter. As the snow disappears more anglers will be uncovering their boats and hitting the water. Spring fishing is just around the corner!

I have been eager to try casting with my new switch rod, but the weather had just been too cold. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to cast when your guides are full of ice. Now that it has warmed up and since I had a trip planned to Moses Lake, I made a stop on the way down at Rocky Ford Creek. I was pleased to see that they had recently graded and smoothed the road, and it’s in great shape in spite of the snow and then muddy conditions in many areas. I found a spot below the first bridge where I could try out the new 11-foot rod I got from the Ye Old Fly Shop. I had just put together the Skagit head and running line on the large format reel and was ready to try this new technique. I had watched several videos on how to make a switch rod cast and hoped that would be enough to give me a decent start. I struggled a bit but was able to throw a fly at least 50 or 60 feet, which is terrible for a switch rod cast. It was still a bit chilly when I started out, and the new running line was like a slinky. I need to try to stretch it out, so it doesn’t rattle through the guides or ball up. I know I will be able to really improve on my distance with more practice. It’s going to be fun to learn a new way to throw a fly.

Last Sunday, my neighbor borrowed my ice fishing gear to take four youngsters to Fish Lake. He sent me some photos during their day up there, and I could tell they were having fun. They filled a bag with enough perch to have a nice feed that evening. My brother in law Tom Verschuren had never been ice fishing, so I took him on Tuesday of last week. Walking out was treacherous. It was very slippery, as the ice that had melted under the sun the day before had frozen. I found a likely spot and had three holes through the ice in no time. The ice was at least eight inches thick. Fishing was very slow when we started. Kenny Skammerhorn and his friend were fishing nearby and offered us some perch eyes to use for bait. Since they were leaving they suggested we take over their holes which had produced a nice mess of perch for them. We rebaited with the perch eyes, dropped our baits to the bottom and had immediate success. We would get a few bites and land three or four, and then it would slow down. In 15 or 20 minutes the perch would show up again and we would get a few more. The fish we caught were mostly cookie cutter 9-inchers. Just right for the pan. I want to get back up there before the ice on the lake gets too thin. When we were coming off the lake there were large areas of water on top of the ice. I can see it could get very sloppy as the sun melts the top layer of ice during the day. This week’s was taken at Fish Lake, near Lake Wenatchee.

One of the first signs of spring trout fishing is the annual Burke Lake Trout Derby, sponsored by the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce. It is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 5th this year. This event has been going on for years and always gets a good crowd of eager trout anglers participating. The Quincy Chamber does a great job of getting plenty of prizes to hand out and the local community generously contributes. You can get all the details by logging onto my website and clicking on the “Something Fishy in Quincy” logo on the Home Page.

Last year, right about this time, I fished Lake Roosevelt with Alan Greenhalgh, owner of Kokabow Fishing Tackle, and Jim Payne from Cashmere. Alan was good enough to sit down with me and record a video on what I called “Keys to Kokanee Success”. This video has been very popular and would be worth watching if you are planning to fish for kokanee on Lake Roosevelt or any of the other lakes that have them in the region. You can find it on the Fishing TV Page of my website.
Another video worth a look is the one I did fairly recently with Kevin Witte, of Upriver Outfitters. We trolled out of Spring Canyon and caught a bunch of nice rainbow. It is also available on the Fishing TV Page, and the title is “Fishing for Lake Roosevelt Rainbow”.

Take advantage of the great weather and get out and get after ‘em!